Shelley Connelly was very excited about the upcoming birth of her child. She had a fantastic pregnancy with no problems before giving birth to a beautiful little girl named Peyton. Just to be on the safe side, Shelley decided to save her child’s umbilical cord blood.
Shortly before Peyton’s first birthday she became ill and appeared very weak. She was unable to stand up in her cot despite having already achieved that developmental milestone many weeks earlier. Shelley quickly took Peyton to the doctor. After some tests, it was discovered that Peyton had a very large tumour and had already suffered a stroke.
A stroke in a child as young as Peyton is often devastating and can permanently damage their brain. A child who has had a stroke will often have visual problems, epilepsy, learning problems, difficulties learning how to speak and they can suffer from cerebral palsy.
Shelley told the doctors that she had preserved Peyton’s stem cells. She already knew that cord blood stem cells treat a wide variety of illnesses including many types of immune system disorders, blood disorders, cancer and immune system disorders. Shelley hoped that cord blood stem cells could treat the damage from a stroke as well.
Peyton’s doctors discovered that there was an ongoing stem cell research project that looked at the effect of stem cell therapy on paediatric stroke. Peyton was able to get into the trial and received a stem cell transplant of her own cord blood stem cells.
The changes were incredible. After the stem cell transplant, her ability to speak improved dramatically. Shelley was so impressed by the result that she has become an advocate for cord blood stem cells, saying: “It’s amazing. If this is what we can achieve with cord blood reinfusion I want it available to more people; I want it available to anyone that wants it.”
There are approximately 400 childhood strokes each year in the United Kingdom. Globally, approximately 1 in 4000 children has a stroke shortly after they are born. Peyton’s success story really highlights the importance of saving your child’s umbilical cord blood.
Source: Cord Blood Stem Cells Treat Paediatric Stroke
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